The Doom of the Small Cask

Sounds like the title of a horror story, doesn't it? Really, it concerns the change in packaging of take-home beer.

What they're really talking about is the new type of non-deposit bottled beer. Which, being force-carbonated, was always in sparkling condition. Unlike beer in small casks, which would always tend to be flat when the cask was nearly empty.

The Doom of the Small Cask.
We consider that the small cask is doomed, for since the abandonment of cleansing and the introduction of dropping plant and racking vessels, the over-refined contents of a small trading vessel are generally flat during ullage. The doom of such a vessel, is sealed by the appearance of beer of Lager appearance and natural gaseous condition, that can be distributed in flagons, jars, quart, bottle crates, and other measures in brilliant sparkling fobbing and palatable condition. These beers are sure to become known, and judging from limited experience the demand for them may prove boundless. We note that all over the country energetic firms are making careful preparations for the change, from casks to flagon, jar, and crate. We welcome the innovation in the interests of brewers, the needs of householders, and the demands of educated artizans, so the 4.5-cask or pin will soon be a vessel of the past, and in two or three years we may contemplate tho departure even of the firkin.
The Brewers' Journal vol. 36 1900, March 15th 1900, page 187.

And they were right. Cask beer for home use was starting to die out. Because it was much more fuss than bottled beer. 

Pubs didn't generally use casks as small as pins or firkins. Beer was mostly delivered to pubs in barrels and hogsheads. Unlike today, when even a kilderkin is considered a large cask.

The change to bottles sometimes also meant a change in the beer. As special versions of beers were sometimes brewed for bottling. Usually weaker than draught versions. That sold in crates of four quarts could be quite a bit weaker than the versions sold in pubs.

There were also special types of beer brewed specifically for bottling, such as Light Dinner Ale and Luncheon Stout. These were low-gravity beers, weaker than those served on draught.